Civilizing Globalization, Revised and Expanded Edition

Book excerpt: Is it possible to harness the benefits of economic globalization without sacrificing social equity, ecological sustainability, and democratic governance? The first edition of Civilizing Globalization (2003) explored this question at a time of widespread popular discontent. This fully revised and expanded edition comes at an equally crucial juncture. The period of relative stability and prosperity in the world economy that followed the release of the first edition ended abruptly in 2008 with a worldwide economic crisis that illustrated in dramatic fashion the enduring problems with our global order. Yet despite the gravity of the challenges, concrete initiatives for change remain insubstantial. Richard Sandbrook and Ali Burak Güven bring together international scholars and veteran activists to discuss in clear, nontechnical language the innovative political strategies, participatory institutional frameworks, and feasible regulatory designs capable of taming global markets so that they assume the role of useful servants rather than tyrannical masters.